Helmets for contact sports, such as those used in football, hockey and lacrosse, typically include a shell, a faceguard or face mask, and a chin protector or strap that removably secures the helmet on the wearer's head. The faceguard is rigidly secured to the shell by a plurality of connectors, whereby the faceguard can sustain a number of impacts during the course of play while remaining connected to the shell. Most faceguards include a plurality of intersecting and/or overlapping bars that form openings through which the wearer views the field of play.
One existing faceguard connector is a plastic U-shaped strap member that has a receiver portion that encircles a bar of the faceguard. This strap connector includes a tab portion, wherein a threaded fastener, such as a screw, extends through the tab portion and into the shell to secure the connector and the faceguard to the helmet. Typically, these U-shaped strap connectors are found above the brow region of the shell and along each ear flap to join the faceguard to the shell. A second existing faceguard connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,934,971, which is owned by Riddell Inc., the assignee of the present application. That connector, marketed under the Isolator System brand name, includes a nut, a bushing, a grommet, a rectangular bracket and a threaded fastener (screw). The bracket includes a first channel that receives a first bar of the faceguard and a second channel that receives a second bar, wherein the faceguard bars are positioned between the shell and the bracket. The fastener extends through the bracket and the shell and is received by the nut (residing within the shell) to couple the faceguard to the shell. The threaded fastener is employed to secure the connector to the shell and as a result, a rotational force is applied to tighten for securement and loosen the fastener to permit removal of the bracket and faceguard. While such conventional faceguard connectors provide a number of benefits, they nevertheless have certain limitations. For example, adjusting and/or removing the faceguard from the shell can be difficult and time consuming. Because a threaded fastener is utilized, rotation of a flat-blade or Phillips screwdriver is required to loosen the fastener to allow for removal of the bracket and the faceguard. In the event a player is injured and/or requires immediate medical attention, the training staff or coaches must undertake the time consuming process of unscrewing the fastener to remove the connector and faceguard in order to gain access to the player's facial area.
Conventional sports helmets include an internal pad assembly that is designed to absorb impacts to the helmet. The internal pad assembly includes a number of pad elements which may be formed from absorbent foam, air, gel or a combination thereof. Air can be utilized as an inflation fluid to adjust the dimensions of the pad element. An example of an inflatable pad assembly of this type is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,889. This type of pad assembly is affixed to the inner surface of the shell and does not fully accommodate the anatomical distinctions among various wearer's heads. Another internal pad assembly that utilizes an inflatable bladder positioned between the shell and the pad elements is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,365 to Schulz. There, a bladder 30 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) is formed from four elongated cells 32a-d and is secured to the inner surface of the shell 20 by Velcro® 38a-d. A padding assembly 50 includes four pad segments or fingers 52a-b that are fastened to a corresponding bladder cell 32a-d by Velcro® 34a-b. Thus, the pad fingers 52a-b are secured in place and cannot pivot when the bladder 30 is inflated. Also, the pad fingers 52a-b are spaced a distance apart and do not form a continuous rear padding element that cradles the base of the skull. Because the bladder 30 extends between the lower rear octant and the upper front octant, Schulz states that “the helmet is elevated from the head by pressure applied by the bladder at the upper octants' of the wearer's head.” While the pad fingers 52a-b of the padding assembly 50 are moveable by operation of the bladder 30, the range of movement is limited by the fact that the lower regions of the padding assembly 50 are coupled to the bladder 30, which is coupled to the inner surface of the helmet shell 20. These structural aspects limit the ability of Schulz's padding assembly 50 to adapt to the anatomical distinctions among various wearers' heads.
The present invention is provided to solve these limitations and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by conventional sports helmets. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.